MANILA – The efficacy of Covid-19 jabs is guaranteed regardless of brand, National Adverse Effects Following Immunization Committee (NAEFIC) Chair ,Dr. Lulu Bravo, said in a televised public briefing on Thursday. However, there are rare cases of deaths if the vaccinee failed to develop the right anti-body level post vaccination and they are usually those with comorbidities. “So imagine sa 13 million fully vaccinated, kung may makita ka na isa o dalawa na namatay, iyan po ay talagang medyo siguro ‘yan iyong mayroong abnormal na immune system. Kasi hindi naman natin sinasabi na 100 percent garantisado ang efficacy ng bakuna.

MANILA – The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday said the special allotment release order for the PHP311 million-worth of Special Risk Allowance (SRA) for health care workers had been downloaded to its Centers for Health Development (CHDs). The fund will benefit an additional 20,208 healthcare workers. In a news release, the DOH said the funds transferred to the CHDs would then be released to their respective local government units (LGUs) and private health facilities in the next few days. The release is the first batch of fund transfers for the grant of SRA to hospitals and health facilities that

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has directed the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) President Dante Gierran to pay the claims of private hospitals as soon as possible, Malacañang said on Thursday. Duterte gave the directive, as he acknowledged that the government could not afford to lose private hospitals, especially amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in an online press briefing. “Inulit ni Presidente ang kautusan niya kay Atty. Gierran, bayaran niya nang bayaran dahil sa panahon ng pandemya (The President reiterated his directive to Atty. Gierran to pay the hospitals’ claims because amid the

MANILA – Concerns on the rising coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases due to the Delta variant and their impact on economic recovery resulted in the sideways close of the local stock barometer and the depreciation of the peso. The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) contracted by 0.02 percent, or 1.62 points, to 6,820.53 points. All Shares rose by 0.15 percent, or 6.49 points, to 4,205.00 points. Most of the sectoral gauges also ended the day in the negative territory and these are Holding Firms, 0.81 percent; Industrial, 0.67 percent; Financials, 0.65 percent; and Property, 0.13 percent. On the other hand,